Well, you have to have one of Reyna or Acosta on the field so that we can create chances from dead ball situations. Against Mexico, I would like to have both of them starting in midfield, alongside McKennie.
At this stage, we are what we are, and GGG is what he is. His system is a Klopp style 433. A false 9. Wide-forwards who don't first look to cut inside of central midfield. A functional midfield. Fullbacks who can get forward to create something. Highly mobile CBs. Is it the best fit for the pool? Does GGG have prior experience with this system? I doubt he's changing, so here we go-- ------------------------------------------Sargent,Pepi,Ferreira,Hoppe---------------- ----------------Weah,Aaronson,Morris-------------------------------------Pulisic,Cowell, Arriola, -----------------------Reyna,Musah,dlTorre-----------------McKennie,Busio,Mihailovic------- ----------------------------------------------Adams, Acosta, Sands-------------- ------Jedi,Jones,Bello-------------------------------------------------------------Dest,Cannon,Yedlin----- --------------------------Richards,Robinson------------Zimmerman, McKenzie, EPB---- --------------------------------------------Turner, Steffen, Johnson------------- Go with the hot hand at false 9 Move Pulisic to the right, so he doesn't clog up the middle Use MMA against Mexico; 'A' could be Acosta or Adams
I think against better teams it is the right group. Against minnows it may not be as a more creative mid for probably Musah may be the better choice. We rarely play better teams now but playing midfielders with less defensive ability against really good teams doesn't sound like a good idea. So the alternate choices are Reyna, LDLT, Ledezma and Pomykal. Two of those had long term injuries and never gotten a chance, one just got his first real chance and the last hasn't had a chance at that position for the national team and has also been injured. Maybe that's why they keep getting injured is because offensively gifted midfielders take a lot of punishment.
Folks will remember that the WCQer at the Azteca was Acosta's first start in CM for the USMNT. A remarkable roll of the dice by Arena. I can see Berhalter starting Acosta in this game, and ensuring Adams' availability against Panama. People with keen memories will remember that we've gotten points in our last two WCQers at the Azteca. Its not some insurmountable task........................
I think you saw last night that we play better when our fullbacks don't push up too far in the attack. Both fullbacks defended first last night and it game room for the wide forwards to actually play wide. It also meant the attacking midfield area wasn't clogged up with players, as it often has been lately.
How Gregg balances the squad across all three games is a heck of a challenge and, of course, we don't know who will be healthy. Re-integrating Reyna while keeping Puli and Weah on the field is also going to be tricky. That said, I'll make one firm prediction: Barring injuries, we're rolling out a lineup with Jedi-Miles-Zim-Dest + MMA against Mexico. We have a clear idea of Gregg's preferred back 4 now, IMO, and MMA is perfectly suited to play against a team like that.
Ok by me. It is another one of those things that should be been because of the upside possibilities. I also hope Scally gets called in and gets capped.
Yeah. I'm not sure I'm on board with benching Adams for this one even with the card situation given how dominant the MMA midfield was in the home game....on the other hand I really want Acosta's set pieces on the field and I think I'd actually start him at LB, especially if Reyna isn't back yet.
We can't keep the ugliness below no matter who is in form. It makes A our key distributor, while M&M are busy clogging sideline with a huge hole in the middle: K ----------------------- CB CB A RB M M LB RW LW F
Yeah, the Mexico game would be perfect for a guy like Scally. ----------------------------Turner ---Scally----Zimmerman----Robinson----Robinson ----------------------------Acosta -------------McKennie------------Reyna --------Weah----------------------------Aaronson ----------------------------Pulisic Keep the fullbacks focused on defense. Have Acosta in there to clean up and hit dead balls. Have a front five that has shown it can put the ball in the back of the net against quality competition. Have a front three that can harass and get behind the defense. Play direct as hell. I am afraid Berhalter goes with both Acosta and Adams in midfield though.
Acosta brings an engine and motor in midfield. And experience in these types of games. He's one of the most capped active USMNTers. Of course, the USMNT is so young that in some games Christian Pulisic is our most capped starter. Ridiculous. He's 23 years old and has 45 caps. He just passed Benny Feilhaber and Tony Sanneh in this last window. That goal last night moved Pulisic past Earnie Stewart and DeMarcus Beasley into sole possession of 9th all-time on the goal-scoring chart.
Yeah, MMA has bossed the midfield against Mexico and Canada--two WC-caliber teams. Bossing the midfield doesn't guarantee that you'll create offensive chances, as we've seen, but it does pretty much guarantee the opponent won't generate much (unless you do something stupid like send a goal kick straight to them). If we add an in-form Pulisic (or maybe Reyna) and a decent forward, I think that could be enough to create and finish the chances we'd need against WC-caliber opposition. Of course, it's questionable if we'll see an in-form Pulisic or a decent forward emerge prior to the WC, but it's not super unlikely.
This is what I would be in favor of. I wouldn't perform the self-fulfilling prophecy of assuming the Costa Rica game is super-important and therefore setting up the team to make it more likely that it is.
Idk if you’ve been corrected on the first part of your post yet, but it’s not 100% accurate. If we lose to Mexico, beat Panama, but Costa Rica wins its first two games, a loss vs Costa Rica would put us in 4th place. If I’m running the numbers correctly, which I think I am, a win vs Panama puts us at least in 4th place no matter what else happens. Most important game of Gregg and almost the whole team’s careers!
Indeed for all the handwringing about Lletget and Roldan, Lletget didn't play at all this window and hasn't played a minute since the Panama road game. And Roldan only got minutes in the last ten minutes of the third game after it was clear things were in hand. Arriola also barely played this window. I'm fine with them being on the roster as good locker room guys who are going to be fine if they don't play a ton. I do think this team could use a veteran presence, but I sort of think that veteran presence is Walker Zimmermann whose really taken his game to a new level in qualifying and is playing like a man who knows this is his last chance to go to a World Cup.
It helps Canada more because they've played a greater # of players from MLS (while fans of USMNT who scapegoat MLS somehow have to reconcile that w/ Canada being top of the table). And that's a good thing for us because we'll be Canada's biggest fans next window. But as far as CR and Panama go, no it doesn't help them as much as us, because we play a significant amount more guys from MLS, still. I mean they only have a couple players on their roster from MLS. We have 10-12.
I would love to see Morris and Pulisic play together....Morris as the speed guy to open up the space for Pulisic to operate in. And Pulisic needs to play centrally....he's showed how much damage he can cause inside the box with his goals against Mexico & Honduras. He's wasted as a winger. Musah has not impressed me, and in fact seems to disrupt the attack more than helping it, so I'd play an MAP, with Pulisic as the attacking central mid, and Weah and Aaronson/Morris/Reyna as the two wingers.
I think a lot depends on Reyna and Pulisic's form. I think trying something we've never done before is a little nuts. The back 4 are set and why tinker with it when, for the most part, they have been very, very stingy allowing goals. If we don't have an in-form 9 and both Reyna and Pulisic are in form I'd try one of them as a False 9 then put the other and Weah on the wings. Or put both on the wings and Weah as the 9. And try a midfield of Acosta and MM. But I'm guessing 1 to 2 of those 11 will be injured. UGH
Let’s just win at the Azteca so it forces GGG to get a tattoo that says Mexicos Daddy, it would pretty much his obligation if he did and I am so so so happy Mexico squeaked out a W, that means no fired Tata and we will assuredly be there playing a timid lethargic Mexico , without chucky due to shoulder dislocation